Cop fights suspect at Pike Place Market, finds gun

An off-duty Seattle police officer helped a security guard subdue an armed man at the Pike Place Market on Wednesday morning.

The suspect had a .45-caliber pistol — stolen earlier in the morning from a car in the 700 block of First Avenue — and had been involved in a drug deal, police say.

The officer was working off duty at 9:18 a.m. when he heard a police call about a fight between the 36-year-old suspect and security guard.

The guard saw the suspect go into Post Alley from Stewart Street for a drug deal.

The guard confronted him, and the suspect hit the guard with a cane.

The two struggled, and the suspect threatened to kill the guard, reaching into a backpack to get a pistol.

The off-duty cop helped the guard keep the suspect from pulling out the gun. Police say the suspect also had drugs in his possession.

Police say the suspect was booked into jail for investigation of assault, harassment and drug offenses, as well as for several outstanding warrants. He has an ongoing theft case in Seattle Municipal Court and has pleaded not guilty in that case.